Urban & Regional Planning 103
Terry Christensen
Local Politics
Fall 2008
Section 01
TTh 1200
Office: Clark 457
Telephone (408) 924-5565
E-mail: Terry.Christensen@sjsu.edu
Office Hours: T, Th 1:30-3 & by appointment
“All politics is local,” said one of America’ master politicians, meaning that the essence of politics is
relationships between people but also suggesting that local politics shapes larger events. URBP 103 focuses
on local government and politics in the US. You’ll learn about politics in communities, but also about
politics more generally. You’ll be introduced to the basics of local politics, including the structure and
organization of local government, intergovernmental relations and nongovernmental elements (voters,
interest groups, media, private power holders, race, class). To the maximum extent possible, this will be
done using San José and the surrounding area as a learning laboratory. We’ll also learn about local politics
through a simulation, with students playing the roles of various actors in local politics. The goal of the
course is to provide students with information, understanding and critical insights as to how American
communities function politically.
In this course, you will learn:
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how to understand, participate in and affect politics in your own community – as a journalist, involved
citizen, or public or private sector professional.
how to get the information you need to deepen your knowledge of your current and future communities.
to apply social science theories to real-life politics.
to synthesize ideas from varied sources to enhance your understanding of local politics.
to think critically and analytically about local politics and politics more generally.
Required Reading
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Terry Christensen and Tom Hogen-Esch, Local Politics, 2nd Ed. ME Sharpe, 2006.
Political Science 103 Course Reader (from the AS Print Shop in the Old Cafeteria).
THE SAN JOSÉ MERCURY NEWS (www.sjmercury.com).
Recommended: check out the local politics blogs regularly. www.sanJoséinside.com (pro-business,
conservative) and www.sanJosérevealed.com (pro-labor, liberal).
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Evaluation
The standard format for grading will be 20% for the final exam, 25% for quizzes, 25% for a paper on city
council meetings, and 10% each for a role model paper, participation in the city politics simulation, and a
civic engagement paper.
 The final exam (20% of the course grade) will be comprehensive essay questions covering lecture and
readings. Review questions will be distributed at the last class meeting.
 The city council paper (25% of the course grade) will require attendance of at least two meetings of the
San José city council and a 6-8 page paper analyzing what you observe with appropriate application of
readings. See the attached assignment (page 5) and handouts for further information. Due October 16.
 Quizzes and Short Assignments (25% of the course grade). Quizzes will be multiple choice or
true/false covering chapters of Local Politics only. They will be given promptly at the beginning of
class, normally on the day the chapter is assigned; any alteration of this schedule will be announced in
advance. No make-ups will be permitted unless approved in advance. You must arrive in class on time.
We’ll also have a couple of short (one page) assignments on the power structure articles in the reader
and on census date for a city of your choice, for example.
 Extra Credit. You can earn extra credit points for the quiz/short assignment portion of the course grade
by attending candidate forums or local political events that will be announced in class and writing short
reflection papers on your observations. Such reflection papers must relate your observations to concepts
from the text.
 The role model paper (10% of the course grade) will be a 3-page paper on a person like the one you
will play in the city politics simulation (you’ll get a list of roles soon). Once you’ve picked a role, you
must find a local, real-life parallel and research that person through public records, the Internet,
newspapers or interviews. Check out the reader, too. Your brief paper should describe the person and
his/her political activities and put them in the larger context provided by the text and reader, which
should be cited in footnotes. Due November 6.
 Credit for this class will include service to the community through participation in a community survey
and writing a short (2-3 page) paper in which you describe your experience and apply the text (10% of
the course grade). The survey is scheduled for October 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please put it in your
schedule now.
 The city politics simulation (10% of course grade) will be played at the end of the semester. A course
handout will provide details. Grades will be based on attendance, participation and written evaluations
by participants.
For purposes of averaging the course grade, scores of
 90-100 = A (thorough coverage; good references to readings; original insight)
 80-89 = B (good coverage, some references, little original)
 70-79 = C (incomplete coverage, inadequate references, perhaps even erroneous information)
 60-69 = D (poor coverage, no references, misinformation)
 0-59 = F (unacceptable work; inadequate, insufficient and perhaps irrelevant)
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the
University's Academic Integrity Policy require you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty
are required to report all infractions to the Office of Judicial Affairs. The policy on academic integrity can
be found at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf.
SIGN UP for PolS 103 email list by emailing: Terry.Christensen@sjsu.edu (optional).
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Course Outline
Date
Topic and Reading Assignment
08/26
Syllabus Distributed
08/28
Quiz: Chapters 1-2 of Local Politics
09/2 & 4
The Environment of Local Politics: Characteristics of Urban Places.
Read Local Politics (LP), Ch. 1-2 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: What do the terms ‘city’ or ‘urban’ bring to mind? How is local politics different from state, national or
international politics?
Consider: What’s the difference between a crowd and a community?
09/9 & 11
The Evolution of Urban Places: Where People Live & Why
Read LP, Ch. 3 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: What is the impact of suburbanization local politics in metropolitan areas?
October 11. Short assignment on census data on a city of your choice due
09/16 & 18
The Intergovernmental Environment of Local Politics
Read LP, Ch. 4 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: Should the state and federal governments give local governments more power
are controls by higher levels of government good?
09/23 & 25
Forms of Government: Machines, Reform and Counterreform
Read LP, Ch. 5-6 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: Which is worse (or better), traditional political machines or contemporary growth machines?
09/30 & 10/2
Legislators and Executives: The Balance of Power
Read LP, Ch. 7 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: Who should have the most power, the council, the mayor or the manager?
10/7
Bureaucracies in Local Politics
Read LP, Ch. 8 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: Are bureaucracies objective? Should bureaucracies be representative?
10/9
Interest Groups and Local Politics
Read LP, Ch. 10 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: Why are economic interest groups usually winners in Local Politics? Is it because money equals power or does the
structure and organization of local government also have something to do with it?
10/14 & 16
Elections, Campaigns and the Media
Read LP, Ch. 9 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: How do electoral structures affect who gets elected?
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October 16. CITY COUNCIL PAPER DUE
October 18, 10-3, Community Survey
10/21 & 23
Community Power Structures: Official and Unofficial Decision Makers
Read LP, Ch. 11 and accompanying readings in Course Reader (San José power studies)
Consider: Based on Movers and Shakers and its up-dates, would you describe San José’s
an José’s power structure as pluralist or elitist or something in between?
October 23. Short assignment on power structure articles in reader due
10/28 & 30
Budget Politics: Getting and Spending Money
Read LP, Ch. 12 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: What is fiscal zoning and what are its causes?
October 30. Reflections on community survey due
11/4 & 6
Public Policy: Local Issues and Battles. The Politics of Growth
Read LP, Ch. 13 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: Should public funds subsidize private development?
November 6. ROLE MODEL PAPER DUE
11/11
Metropolitan Regional Politics: The Future of Local Government
Read LP, Ch. 14 and accompanying readings in Course Reader
Consider: Is metropolitan regional fragmentation good or bad? How should it be resolved?
November 13, 18, 20, 25 and December 2, 4 & 9: CIRCLEVILLE SIMULATION.
December 16 0945-1200 FINAL EXAM
Warnings
 Late papers will be penalized with lower grades.
 No late papers will be accepted after December 9.
 Missed quizzes may not be made up unless students are excused in advance.
 Plagiarism or cheating on quizzes, tests or papers are serious offenses that may result in grades of F or
expulsion from the university.
 Late arrivals, early departures, ringing cell phones and disruptions of class in any form are unacceptable.
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need special
arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as
possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities
register with DRC to establish a record of their disability.
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City Council Paper
Due October 16
Your essay should be 6-8 double-spaced, typewritten pages. Prepare by reading everything
assigned up to October 16 with special attention to Local Politics, Chapters 5-10, accompanying readings in
the Course Reader and relevant newspaper articles. Be sure to apply ideas from these readings to your
observations of the meetings.
You may attend the meetings of any approved city council or county board, but the San José City
Council is strongly preferred. Attend a minimum of two meetings (afternoon and evening sessions may
count as different meetings). Note on your paper the date and time (evening or afternoon) of sessions
attended.
The San José City Council meets in the Council Chambers at City Hall (200 E. Santa Clara Street)
every Tuesday at 1:30 (except October 14). Evening sessions during this semester are September 16,
October 7 and 21 only. When possible, a council member will talk with us after the meetings.
Meetings may be very short, so plan your attendance now and allow some leeway in case you hit a
very short one. You need to stay for at least a couple of hours to get a sense of how things work, so allow
yourself plenty of time when you attend. Try to go to at least one meeting as soon as possible. You can
watch council meetings on television on San José cable channel 26. Meetings are cablecast live on
Tuesdays and rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays. You can also view archived video of
council meetings at http://sanJosé.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2. DO NOT substitute
televised meetings for in-person observation. You will not learn as much. You may, however, use the
televised meetings to supplement your in-person observations. And you’ll better understand what’s going
on in the televised meetings after you’ve attended a live meeting in person.
Afternoon sessions deal with general business; evening sessions are for public hearings, usually on
land use. Pick up an agenda as you enter—either at the back of the Chambers or on the table on the right of
the council (if you’re facing the council). Study it to understand the Consent Calendar, public hearings and
the sources of requests for action (in parenthesis after most items). Additional information on agenda items
is available in a file on the table that has the agendas. Council members get this information in advance so
they can study these memos. See the class handout for who's who on the dais.
For general information about the council and access to agendas and video of past council meetings,
go to www.sanJoséca.gov/council.html. Click on Council Agenda to see agendas of up-coming meetings
and synopses of past meetings. When you look at the agenda on-line, you can click on items in blue to see
the background information council members receive in their packets. Also on the agenda page, click on
city calendar for a schedule of meetings of council committees, which you are also encouraged to attend.
Your essay should NOT be a factual summary of events at the meetings. Rather, you should attempt
to assess, evaluate and analyze what you observe. Try to make some generalizations about the process, with
specific examples for illustration. Make a special effort to assess the roles played by council members,
administrators (manager, staff, bureaucracy) and citizens (audience, speakers, groups--who's there, how
many, for what purpose, etc.?) and the relationships between all of these and the council as well as
relationships among the council members themselves. After considering these things, attempt to arrive at
some conclusions regarding the process as a whole. How does the council make decisions? Is this
democracy at work? Who seems to dominate the process? Does anyone? Are decisions made at Council
meetings after careful deliberation or do they appear to have been made in advance? How and why? The
readings will help; use them. Be sure to make at least 8 references to specific readings. Use footnotes or
endnotes and cite your sources.
Please do not submit papers in bindings. Just staple them together with your name, the title of the
paper and the dates of meetings you attended on the cover sheet.
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